Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE Research Response Number: CHN32709 Country: China Date: 20 December 2007 Keywords: CHN32709 – China – Shouters – Fujian This response was prepared by the Research & Information Services Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. This research response may not, under any circumstance, be cited in a decision or any other document. Anyone wishing to use this information may only cite the primary source material contained herein. Questions 1. Is there any information about the treatment of Protestant Christians in Jiaru Village, Sanshan Town, Fuqing City, Fujian? 2. In particular, how are “Shouters” regarded? RESPONSE 1. Is there any information about the treatment of Protestant Christians in Jiaru Village, Sanshan Town, Fuqing City, Fujian? 2. In particular, how are “Shouters” regarded? No information was found on the situation or treatment of Protestant Christians or “Shouters” (also referred to here as the Local Church), specific to the village of Jiaru or to the town of Sanshan in Fujian. For a map showing the location of Sanshan Town, see Attachment 1. According to the Nona.net website, Jiaru is 5.1 kilometers from Sanshan town (‘Map of Fuqing’, (undated) Research & Information database – Attachment 1; “Sanshan (Fujian, China) & Jiaru’ (undated), Nona.net website, http://nona.net/features/map/placedetail.1385061/Sanshan/ – Accessed 14 December 2007 – Attachment 2). Summary Information presented below focuses on reports on the treatment and situation of Shouters in Fujian province. DFAT has recently (November 2007) stated that as the group is classified as a cult, that it “expects” this to result in enforcement actions but had no evidence of specific actions taken by the authorities. In August 2006 DFAT stated that it was aware of several reports of raids on Shouter meetings in Fuqing in 2002. In October 2006, an Elder of the “Church in Melbourne” stated that while in some provinces groups were allowed to register and then worship freely, in Fujian this was not the case in that the local churches were regarded as illegal and members were still being arrested there and in Fuqing city. This view is somewhat contradicted by the author Jason Kindopp, who in a 2004 PhD dissertation wrote that Local Churches operate legally in a number of rural counties in Fujian. Kindopp stated that a 4000 person seating capacity church had been built in Fujian’s Longtian district. In August 2005, the executive secretary of the Hong Kong Christian Council commented to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada that where arrests have been made on cultic activity by the authorities, Shouters are one group which has been targeted. In 2003, BBC Monitoring of the South China Morning Post reported on the sentencing of three Shouter members to re-education through labour and the arrest of thirty one other members in Fujian. Reports on Shouters in Fujian: In November 2007, the Country Information Service (CIS) of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) requested information from DFAT on the situation of the “Shouters” Christian group in Fuqing, Fujian. The CIS initiated this request on account of the significant number of applicants claiming Shouter affiliation from this area. The CIS also sought specific information from DFAT on over twenty villages and townships in Fuqing city and Fujian identified in claims by applicants. DFAT could provide no information on activity by Shouters in these villages. DFAT information on this Christian group is limited to the following: …The post in Beijing made enquiries with contacts to seek information in relation to these questions, but garnered little further information, particularly in relation to the treatment of Shouters beyond advice in CX158808. … The specificity and political sensitivity of the information sought in reftel has limited post’s ability to provide a detailed response. Reftel sought extremely detailed information about the treatment of a religious group known as the “Shouters”. China is not a place where information of the kind sought is freely available, and seeking out such information would be both politically sensitive and run the risk of placing practitioners at risk. Any responses, therefore, are necessarily based on general impressions and anecdotal evidence. R.1. The post in Guangzhou has no specific information regarding the enforcement of the prohibition of underground churches in Fujian generally, or in Fuqing in particular. We understand that the “Shouters” are defined as an “evil cult” and would expect that this would result in enforcement action, but we have no specific information. R.2. The post in Guangzhou has no specific information regarding the targeting of religious groups, including the “Shouters”, in Fuqing. In a recent discussion with the US Consul- General in Guangzhou, the post was told that the United States had also received asylum claims from “Shouters” originating from Fujian, including Fuqing. He said these matters were handled by the US Embassy in Beijing and he had no specific information (DIAC Country Information Service 2007, Country Information Report No. 07/83 – China ‘Shouters’ Christian group and Fujian Province, (sourced from DFAT advice 28 November 2007), 28 November – Attachment 3). (Cisnet China CX189037) CX158808 referred to above contains the following information from DFAT provided to the RRT on 3 August 2006: Q.1. Is baptism an aspect of ‘Shouter’ religious practice? If so, what form does it take? A.1. Post conducted searches of English and Chinese-language websites to seek information on this question (for reference, “Shouters” translates as “Huhan pai” in Mandarin). This research shows that baptism is an aspect of Shouter religious practice. Following the preaching of the founder of the Shouter sect, Witness Li (Li Changshou), the sect promotes multiple baptisms of adult adherents (and is criticised for this practice by more orthodox Christians). Reports on the internet say that some followers have undergone hundreds of baptisms. Q.2. Is there any report of a raid on a Shouter meeting in Fuqing on 28 October 2002? A.2. Since 1982, China’s government has tried to suppress the Shouter sect, which it views as an “evil cult” (as it does Falun Gong). There are some reports on Chinese- language websites of police raids on Shouter meetings and of leaders and practitioners being arrested and punished. There are several reports of raids on Shouter meetings in Fuqing (as well as in other areas) in 2002 – usually when the raid received some sort of international attention. Post has no specific information on whether or not a raid took place on a Shouter meeting in Fuqing on 28 October 2002. Activities of the Chinese authorities to suppress this sect would not necessarily be reported. Comment 4. You should be aware that the Shouters are regarded by mainstream church groups as a heretical sect, and therefore generic references in our previous reporting and open-source material to the treatment of Christians in China should not be assumed to apply automatically to the Shouters (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2006, DFAT Report 515 – China: RRT Information Request CHN30365, 4 August – Attachment 4). In September 2005 the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) examined the situation and the treatment of Protestants in the southern Chinese provinces of Fujian and Guangdong. In it, the IRB refers to the Shouters “evil cult” government status and includes statements on the targeting of Shouters provided by the executive secretary of the Hong Kong Christian Council in August 2005: …In 1995, a circular issued by the State Council and the Communist Party Central Committee labelled a number of Protestant groups “evil cults” and declared them illegal organizations (Chan and Carlson 2005, 14-15). These groups included the Shouters, Full- Scope Church, New Testament Church, Eastern Lightning, and Spirit Church (ibid., 15). According to Chan and Carlson, since the 1999 introduction of a resolution banning cults, which targeted Falun Gong, “the government has focused on enforcement on all groups labeled as ‘evil cult’ organizations” (ibid.). Human rights groups claim that following the 1999 anti-cult resolution, authorities cracked down on more than a dozen evangelical Christian groups (AFP 9 Oct. 2002; see also SCMP 9 Jan. 2002). However, one source reported that the authorities’ focus on Falun Gong led to an easing in arrests and harassment of unregistered churches in some areas (U.S. News & World Report 30 Apr. 2001). …Human Rights in China (HRIC) commented in 4 August 2005 correspondence to the Research Directorate that the treatment of Christians is poor in southern China, particularly in the rural areas, though the organization could not elaborate, citing a lack of available information. However, the executive secretary of the Hong Kong Christian Council commented that Fujian and Guangdong have “the most liberal policy on religion in China, especially on Christianity” (Executive secretary 1 Sept. 2005a). In his travels, the executive secretary has met with local authorities who, he said, usually tolerate activities of unregistered Christian groups (1 Sept. 2005a). While authorities are of a more tolerant nature in rural areas than in urban centres, they would usually take steps to discourage religious activity if it had a link to groups from outside China (Executive secretary 1 Sept. 2005a). The executive secretary stated that he is aware of a number of unregistered churches along with Bible schools, fellowships and even missionaries that have been allowed to operate in the two provinces for years (1 Sept. 2005a). As an example, he cited the case of Pastor Samuel Lamb’s unregistered Damajan Church in Guangzhou, which he said has been allowed to hold meetings on a daily basis for 20 years without interference from authorities (1 Sept.